Nigeria losses N127b annually to Cyber Crime – Buhari‎

Buhari stated this on Tuesday during an annual lecture entitled ‘Legislative Commitment and Cyber Crime’, at the Faculty of Law, Lead City University, Ibadan.

Buhari said the figure would continue to grow unless the National Assembly acted fast and intensified its efforts in preventing the unwholesome act.

He declared that the figure represented 0.8% of the country’s GDP.

Quoting a report from the NSA office, Buhari said “Nigeria has been ranked third in global internet crimes, coming after United States of America and United Kingdom respectively.

“In the year 2015, the Information Security Society of Nigeria (ISSAN) revealed that 25% of the cybercrimes in Nigeria are unresolved and that 7.5% of the world’s hackers are Nigerians.

“In 2014 alone, EFCC reported that customers in Nigeria lost about 6 billion naira to cyber criminals, while NDIC (2015) showed a 183% increase on the e-payment platform in Nigerian banks.

“In a similar development, the CBN (2015) report showed that 70% of attempted or successful fraud/forgery cases in Nigeria banking system were perpetrated via the electronic channels.

“Banks in Nigeria have lost approximately 159 billion naira to electronic frauds and cybercrime between 2000 and 2013 and the impact on the nation’s economy and cash less policy is significant”.

He opined that the absence of enabling laws to guarantee the legality of online transactions, continued to create fear in the mind of users and potential online users.

Speaking on the legislative commitment of the National Assembly in the past, the Ogbomoso born politician said “The commitment of National Assembly of Nigeria in the past can be said to have not been fruitful and successful.

“Until 2015, there were over 100 IT-related bills before the Nigeria Legislature – the National Assembly, none of which was passed into law.”

He identified the creation of standing committee on Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Cyber Crime by the Senate as part of commitment by the 8th Assembly towards curbing Cyber Crime in the country.

Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Mr. Fatai Owoseeni, while speaking, stated that crimes cannot be totally eradicated in the society.

“Security is the most expensive thing to do in a country but we can also help by saying positive things about our country; saying negative things about the country demoralizes the courage and attitude of those who want to fight crimes in the society”, he said.